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1: Does NSF intend to make only one contract award for these services (i.e., do offerors have to propose on all areas of support or can offerors propose on selected areas only)? Answer: The NSF does intend to award one contract for the services described in the Performance Work Statement. Question 2: Is there an incumbent contractor now for these services, and if so, could you tell us who that is and how long it has been providing these services? Answer: There is not an incumbent contractor. Question 3: In reference to C-2.4.2 On-site Operation Visits, Technical Exhibit 1 indicates that you are requesting us to perform the evaluations, and Technical Exhibit 2 indicates that you want us to provide support for the evaluations. Please clarify. Answer: The NSF requires support for performing evaluations, not actual performance of the evaluations. Question 4: Section C-2.4.4 of the Performance Work Statement indicates that the contractor should support an existing contractor in converting data for the Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction (MREFC). Will we be expected to develop new software or take over the existing software? What software is currently being used? Answer: The selected Contractor will not be expected to develop new software, rather, the selected Contractor will take over the existing software, which is a custom application. Question 5: Are there aspects of the program that could be supported by persons outside the Metro Washington DC area? Answer: No. Question 6: Are any of the billets in this A-76 procurement currently filled with NSF personnel? If so, are the NSF personnel available for possible employment discussions? Answer: None of the billets in this A-76 procurement are currently filled with NSF personnel. Question 7: Is it a fair characterization that this acquisition would replace existing government employee billets? If so, to what degree are the estimated 22 billets replacing existing government employees, or to what degree is it an expansion in scope for the BFA? Answer: This activity displaces no current federal or contractor employees. This is not a BFA increase in scope, rather, it its an enhancement of our current capabilities.

Question 8: Please clarify if the Government expects all the Contractor personnel to start the transition immediately after award, working side-by-side with NSF personnel and smoothly transitioning the workload for all areas by the end of the 30 day period; or if Contractor personnel (other than the PM) are expected to start on Day 31 after award once the presentation of the plan has been approved by NSF. Answer: The offeror may propose a phase-in approach of their choice. Question 9: For sections C-2.4.4 Financial Tracking System and C-2.4.5 Training, please provide the names and contractual responsibilities/areas of the existing NSF support contractors noted in these paragraphs. Answer: Booz-Allen & Hamilton, Inc. Question 10: Several elements of the PWS will require travel or Other Direct Costs (ODCs) for contractor staff (e.g., Outreach activities, some Monitoring activities, Site Visits for the Large Facilities program). Given the unknown locations and exact frequency for travel and other ODCs and to provide fairer evaluation of offerors’ costs, will NSF consider providing an RFQ-specified amount for Travel/ODCs that Offerors can use in our business proposals. Answer: The offeror should use an amount of $5,000 per year for ODCs (excluding those ODCs related to facilities cost). See RFQ Amendment 01. Question 11: The RFQ lists the NSF-derived cost estimate for these services as $15.2M, derived from RFI responses. Does this amount include travel/ODCs, or only labor costs for the services? Answer: The $15.2M estimate includes labor and associated indirects. It should be noted that this estimate was derived using the formulas prescribed in OMB Circular A-76. Question 12: Section C-2, on page C-2-8 of the PWS states the contractor will provide administrative and logistical support for site visits between Foundations and institutions. Please confirm that the Offeror is to arrange for the travel logistics services but will not pay for these travel services through the contract? (i.e., the Offeror should not build costs into the business proposal to pay for the cost of travel logistics arranged.) Answer: Our selected contractor will provide logistic support only; this contract will not be a payment mechanism for the actual travel expenses. Question 13: On page 11 of the solicitation, NSF states that Offerors need to provide resumes for all personnel designated as key in the proposal and to designate “no more than five positions/individuals”. Does the Program Manager position count towards the five key position/individual limit? Answer: Yes. Question 14: On page 12 of the solicitation, NSF states that a letter of commitment is required for each proposed key person not currently employed by the Offeror. Could NSF confirm that commitment letters are not required for key staff who are already employed by an Offeror?

Answer: If you propose a “key” person in your employ, there is no expectation for a commitment letter for that individual. Question 15: On page 14 of the solicitation, NSF estimated that 2 FTEs are needed to support the SBIR program. Can NSF identify the PWS areas these FTEs will be supporting and describe the nature of these activities? Answer: The primary responsibility of these 2 FTEs will be to conduct the Initial Review of Indirect Cost Rate Proposal Submissions, as described in section C-2.1.1.4, for the SBIR program. Question 16: The cover letter accompanying the RFQ states that “no smaller than 12pitch font” can be used in our response. Does this font limitation apply to text appearing in graphics? Answer: No. Question 17: On page 13 of the solicitation in the Past Performance Instructions, NSF states that completed Performance Questionnaires can be submitted with the proposal. If the Offeror decides to included the questionnaires in our its response, do the questionnaires count toward the overall technical narrative page limit of 30 pages? Answer: No. Question 18: Does NSF already have existing quality control plans or standards in place for each area outlined in the PWS? If so, can we request a copy of NSF’s existing quality control procedures? Answer: The NSF expects the offeror to submit a quality control plan. Subsequently, the NSF will generate a quality surveillance plan to inspect the performance of the selected contractor. Question 19: Does NSF currently utilize a tool for tracking and managing its QC-related activities? (i.e.,QC issues, corrective actions and quality improvement items). Answer: No. Question 20: Does NSF require direct access to the Offeror's QC mgmt tool, or is it acceptable to provide NSF with regular files/information (in a TBD-agreed upon format) from the QC mgmt tool, as and when requested by appropriate NSF personnel? If direct access is required, does NSF require the QC management tool to be installed within or outside of NSF's IT/technical environment? If outside of NSF's IT/technical environment, direct access to the Offeror's QC management tool may only be accomplished by providing NSF with additional software to load/install on appropriate NSF computers (i.e., VPN software). This additional software is required to provide access for NSF personnel via the Offeror's existing IT security protocols. Is the potential for this install of additional software acceptable to NSF? Answer: The NSF does not require direct access to the Contractor’s QC tool. Question 21: Can appendices be submitted, and if so, will they count toward the total page count/are there restrictions to the pages/pitch, etc.?

Answer: Appendices may be submitted, but it is the NSF’s intent to receive a complete and concise proposal from offerors. The appendices will count towards the page limitation. The pitch and margin limitations will apply to appendices, with the exception of text within graphics. Question 22: Specific to Section C-2, Closeout Processing: Is any tracking system in place to assist in tracking the status of closeouts? Also, do the estimates cited (e.g., 78 closeouts in 2006) include only currently active contracts that will be closed out, or does it include retroactively applying closeout processes to contracts already closed? Answer: No, the NSF does not have a tracking system in place to assist in tracking the status of closeouts. Contractor will not work on awards the NSF already considers closed. Question 23: The RFP does not specify a scoring mechanism for evaluating responses. Can any guidelines regarding the scoring for each section of the proposal be provided? Answer: The NSF will conduct our technical evaluations by considering the major strengths and major weaknesses of each proposal as follows: ADJECTIVAL RATING Excellent Very Good DEFINITIONS A comprehensive and thorough proposal of exceptional merit with one or more major strengths. No deficiency or major weakness exists. A proposal having no deficiency and which demonstrates over-all competence. One or more major strengths have been found, and strengths outbalance any weaknesses that exist. A proposal having no deficiency and which shows a reasonably sound response. There may be strengths or weaknesses, or both. As a whole, weaknesses not offset by strengths do not significantly detract from the offeror’s response. A proposal having no deficiency and which has one or more weaknesses. Weaknesses outbalance any strength. A proposal that has one or more deficiencies or major weaknesses that demonstrate a lack of overall competence or would require a major proposal revision to correct.

Good Fair Poor

The price will be considered but not scored. The past performance evaluation will be rated as follows: ADJECTIVAL RATING Excellent DEFINITIONS Consistent record of exceptional past performance by the offeror and any proposed major subcontractors on work identical or very similar to the work elements. Many strengths and no weaknesses.

Very Good

Consistent record of successful past performance by the offeror and any proposed major subcontractors on work identical or very similar to the work elements. Strengths far outweigh any weaknesses. Successful past performance by the offeror and any proposed major subcontractors on work similar to the work elements. Strengths outweigh any weaknesses. Assigned to an offeror with no relevant past performance or for whom information on past performance is not available. Weaknesses outweigh strengths. Weaknesses far outweigh strengths.

Good Neutral

Fair Poor

Question 24: Does the $15.2 estimate include ODCs? Answer: See the answer to Question 11. Question 25: Can subcontractors be included as ODCs? Answer: Yes. Offerors are cautioned to see FAR 16.601. Question 26: Is there a limit on ODCs for this contract? Answer: See the answers to Question 10 and Question 25. Question 27: Are any contractor staff required to travel? If yes, please confirm how ODCs should be handled in the pricing proposal. Answer: Yes, contractor staff will be required to travel. See the answer to Question 12. Question 28: Does the foundation have an estimate for travel expense? If so please provide. Should these fees be included in the $15.2 million or are they in addition? Answer: See the answer to Question 10. Question 29: Should the contractor anticipate paying for all training materials (e.g., conference fees, reprographics, Webinars, software licenses, etc… ) related to this project? If yes, should this be included in the $15.2 million or can it be in addition? Answer: Other Direct Costs would be in addition to the fixed hourly labor rate. Question 30: The proposal allows offerors to submit by email. If an offeror submits by email, is the deadline for hard copies the same as the email submission or can the hard copies be shipped to arrive the next business day? Answer: Hard copies are due by 4:00PM (EST), on February 13, 2006, regardless of whether the proposal was submitted by email.

Question 31: On page 11 of 16, Section L.2 of the Solicitation document, under Personnel, it is stated that resumes should be provided for all designated key personnel and that no more than five resumes should be submitted. It is not clear whether all resumes submitted will be considered key. Also, may the offeror include representative resumes/cameos, and if so, is there a limit on how many? Are Key Personnel limited to only five positions? Answer: The NSF is not seeking resumes for other than key personnel. Key personnel are limited to five positions. Question 32: On page 13 of the Solicitation document under Past Performance there is a statement asking the proposer to, “provide the above information on each of the subcontractors (or team members).” Can the government clarify, do you want 1) “a” through “e” to be filled out to describe the subcontractor, i.e., the subcontractor’s major problems and highlights as a firm; or 2) three relevant references for each of the subcontractors? Answer: If an offeror is using a major subcontractor, the NSF wants three references for that subcontractor. Question 33: Please clarify the number of workload measures related to C-2.4Support for Administrative and Oversight of Large Facilities projects. It appears that for the majority of items it is anticipated that a total of two baseline project reviews will be conducted per a year across the entire project portfolio. Yet, the last under C2.4.1.1 references two Baseline project reviews per year for 50 awardees. This last seems to indicate that there are actually 100 reviews taking place during the year. Answer: NSF funds approximately 50 awardees of facility projects that are mostly in the operations and maintenance phase. Although the total number of projects varies year to year, there are approximately 4-6 projects per year that are funded for construction. It is expected that there will only be 2-baseline projects per year. The task is to provide assistance in developing a Post-Review Action Plan that would track how the recommendations from the review panel are implemented after the baseline reviews are conducted. Question 34: Can the government provide more details to help with determining the scope of task C-2.2 - Support for Coordination & Administration of Outreach Activities? For example, how many days and nights are the meetings? How many people will be staying at the hotel overnight? Answer: Outreach conferences vary in size and scope. Major NSF sponsored conferences such as the Regional Grants Conference usually run two full days and can have anywhere from 250 -350 participants (with 25-30 NSF staff also participating). Focused outreach conferences for specific types of institutions may consist of one full day and have anywhere from 75 - 200 participants (with 10 - 20 NSF staff also participating). Question 35: Also, to help determine the level of effort for the tasks associated with the site visits, (C-2.4.1 and C-2.4.2), could the government indicate approximately how many individuals travel for each of these trips, and for how long?

Answer: NSF estimates that 1 person will travel on the site reviews or baseline reviews. The site reviews and baseline reviews are usually conducted in three days. Often travel will include part of a weekend day. Question 36: Several cells in the PWS reference 30 monitoring visits per year. However, task 2.4 makes no reference to any monitoring visits. Is this correct? Answer: The 30 monitoring visits per year estimate does not relate to Section 2.4 of the PWS. It relates to support required in Sections 2.1.1 and 2.5.2. Question 37: On the workload measures summary for C.2.3.5 - Cooperative Agreement Closeout, previous years had reviews in the 600-400’s, however the estimate shows only 78. Is this correct? If not, can you please provide the accurate numbers? Answer: NSF estimates 78 contacts and cooperative agreements for closeout annually. Question 38: Activities in the PWS appear to address the post award phase of the grants management lifecycle. Post award monitoring usually consists of holding awardees accountable to costs, schedules, and performance measures established during the pre-award and award phases. What pre-award and award phase insight and involvement will the contractor have to maximize the effectiveness of post award monitoring? Answer: None. Question 39: Can the government provide an example of what is meant in PWS section C-1.5.4 by “The Contractor shall provide initial and recurring training for all affected Contractor personnel in the areas of safety, security, environmental, fire prevention, and health in accordance with established NSF and federal, state, and local requirements?” Answer: If Contractor personnel are at the NSF during a fire or fire drill, they will leave the building and follow the direction of emergency personnel. Question 40: In section C.1.4.3, the government may require overtime work, however, in the same section it is stated “NSF assumes no responsibility and no liability for the unavailability of the facility or services on weekends or other periods of time outside of normal working hours.” This appears to be in conflict should the government require work outside the normal hours. Please explain how this will be addressed. Answer: We do not see the conflict. This is an off-site effort. Question 41: Will the government provide an example of the “Quality Control” documents referenced in PWS Section C-1.8? Answer: No. Question 42: Please explain how this performance-based statement of work ties results to compensation. Is there any provision for sharing in savings or awards?

Answer: If the offeror chooses to propose putting part of their fixed hourly labor rates at risk in an award fee like arrangement, the NSF will consider the plan in its evaluation. Question 43: Who is the “NSF support contractor for Project Science” mentioned in PWS Section C-2.4.5? Answer: The California Institute of Technology provides support to Project Science through a NSF grant. Question 44: In the PWS Section C-1.5.1, there is a reference to section C-5 in the PWS, as identified in “Section C-5 of this PWS” and “work requirements identified under Section C-5.1 through C-5.5” – There is no Section C-5 in the PWS, is this referring to a different section, or is there a section missing from the PWS? Answer: PWS Section C-1.5.1 should read “Section C-2 of this PWS” and “work requirements identified under Section C-2.1 through C-2.5”.